Shattered
by Moonclaw and Chance
Summary: Yet another collection of short stories with the Guardians. From hurt/comfort, humor, family and whatever else. No pairings so far! Stories inside are better than the summary. Rated T just to be safe. (Clean) ideas and (nice) reviews welcome and appreciated! Rise of the Guardians, it's characters(C) Dreamworks and William Joyce
1. Agony: Part 1

_**An: Okay, first chapter of my collection of RotG short stories. Please review and please give me ideas as well! It helps a lot! (But keep the ideas clean, I can figure out details and such. And remember, I may or may not use that very idea.) Okay, onto the story! :D **_

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"It's over, Pitch. There's no place to hide." Jack nearly growled as he stood in front of not only Pitch but also of the Guardians, a dim sense of safety and strength swelled inside him. He was with the Guardians, he was helping them too! He finally felt like he _belonged_ somewhere…That he was _a part_ of something…

Pitch seemed slightly conflicted between trying to run or giving up, but then a fleeting thought paused through him and an evil smirk pulled at his lips. He slightly raised his arms and then he slipped into the shadows, he threw his voice so that his laughter circled the Guardians.

Disoriented, Jack turned around quickly as his eyes followed the trail of shadows that resembled Pitch. Suddenly, just as Bunny was glancing back, he noticed that the Nightmare King was rising from the shadows right behind Jack, his scythe posed to strike. Bunny swallowed his gasp and then shouted a warning as he tossed one of his boomerangs at the scythe, "Jack, look out!"

Jack froze and then glanced around, it didn't even occur to him to look behind him until it was too late. A slick _slice_ filled the air followed by the deafening cry of said winter spirit; he fell to the ground in a broken pile. His staff clattered onto the ground a few feet from its master, the frost melted quicker than ever before as it sat there longingly.

"Jack!" All of the Guardians yelled as Jack fell to the ground, without even thinking Tooth rushed to his side. Pitch took this chance to raise his weapon once more, but this time he was stopped when a yellow whip grabbed onto him. He was yanked back and out of sight, Bunny and North watched and were delighted to see that Sandy had returned.

But their joy was short-lived as another pain filled cry filled their ears; they look back to Jack and found that Tooth was trying to roll him onto his side. She obviously did not notice the gaping wound across his back that was bleeding all over the place, he tried to shove her away but she wouldn't seem to listen to his pleas. "STOP! PLEASE…STOP!" He cried desperately as uncontrollable tears welled up in his eyes, his arms and legs had already started to shake furiously with shock.

"Oi! Tooth, knock it off, you're hurting him!" Bunny shouted as he pulled Tooth away from him, Tooth seemed flustered as her wings lowered in worry and guilt.

"I didn't mean to!" She said as she watched Jack settle more onto his stomach, he started to cough and Bunny turned Tooth away so that she wouldn't see the crimson goop that came up and stained the sidewalk.

"Oh-North! We need to get Sandy!" Bunny called over to his old friend just as Jack's vision started to blur.

Everything turned into one big splash; every sound was slurred and made little to no sense. He could hear voices calling to him but all he could do to reply is groan weakly, he felt something touch his shoulder gently and then his whole world when dark. Ironic…

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"Great work, Sandy."

"Yeah, but what do we do now, mate?" Bunny asked as he tried to keep the children away from Jack, not that they would purposely hurt him but they were young and it probably wasn't a good idea to unleash them on an injured winter spirit.

"We have to get him back to the Pole, then we can see about healing that wound." North explained as he gestured to the still-gaping injury on Jack's back.

"Right, can you carry him, North?" Bunny asked unsurely, North nodded and then went to do just that.

But the moment he lifted him off of the ground, Jack cried out in agony as his back exploded with pure, radiating pain that quickly spread to the rest of his body.

"Oi! Put him back down before he explodes!"

North did so and then Jack trembled as he winced inwardly, blood now covered North's hands and some of his sleeves. He looked to his arms in disgust before glancing over to Bunny, "I can't move him…"

"Well we have to! We'll just have to act fast, we should get the sleigh first then you can quickly lift him back up, carry him to the sleigh and then put him back down inside it." Bunny said and then he added quickly, "Sandy, Tooth. Will you two take these ankle-biters home? I'll stay here with Jack to make sure he doesn't do something stupid such as rolling onto his back. North, you will have to go alone to get your sleigh. Everyone okay with that?"

They all nodded and then did as suggested by Bunny; once the others were gone Bunny looked to Jack solemnly. "Come on, Frostbite…You have to pull through…" He muttered as he watched Jack breath sharp, shallow breaths.

Bunny swallowed his pride and then sat down next to Jack, he placed his paw gently onto his shoulder before speaking in the calmest tone that he could muster, "You're going to be fine…You have to be…I still have to get you back for '68."

If Jack wasn't still writhing in pain, he would have at least smiled at that last comment. But all Bunny got was a forced groan and then a lone tear dripped down the winter spirit's face as he tried to fight the agony that started to fill his chest.

Luckily, the other Guardians came in no time. And with several more uncontrollable cries, they got Jack into the sleigh before loading up and heading back towards the Pole. Bunny glanced back to the ground where Jack had been laying and he couldn't help but wonder what people would think when they saw all of that blood on the sidewalk. But then he preoccupied himself with helping Tooth and Sandy keep Jack steady and trying to control his pain as North flew as fast as he could make the sleigh go without jarring and aggravating Jack's wound.

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_**An: Okay, so this is(I think) called an "arch." It should continue beyond this but I might post other stories before I post the next one to this. This story arch was inspired by another writer but I forget the details, but the idea wasn't mine! I just changed it a bit and credit goes to them! Anyway, quick question time!**_

_**Do you think they can save Jack in time? What will/can they do to help him? Will he ever get better?**_

_**Alright, I hoped you liked this chapter. Please review and thank you for reading! :D**_


	2. Flight: Part 1

_**An: Second story arch! Okay, please review and I hope you like the start to this arch! :D**_

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As Jack flew towards the Pole, he allowed the snow around him to grow into a mild storm. The North Pole was the one place that he didn't really have to worry about causing huge storms at. In fact, the storms helped to solidify the surrounding area, making it safer to stay there without outside issues such as melting's, cave-ins and it reduces the odds of having fires in the kitchen and workshop. But even then, Bunny still argued that there was such a thing as: "Too cold." Jack would have to disagree, there was such a thing as "too hot," but cold could be stopped from getting too cold by simply wearing a blanket.

Jack was pulled from his thoughts by yelling, "Hey! Look out Jack!"

"Huh-?" Jack asked as he looked ahead of himself, he saw a young reindeer flying right towards him at frightening speeds. "AH!" Jack yelped before he dropped down, out of the reindeer's path as it went speeding past him.

"Sorry about that, Jack. It's training season for all of the new recruits." An adult reindeer said as he flew skillfully over to the winter spirit, the reindeer was dark brown with white on his neck and chest, his eyes were a deep brown and he had an impressive rack of antlers, but his main feature was the bright red nose on his snout.

"Rudolph! Man I haven't seen you in ages, how you been?" Jack asked as he leveled out once again, the reindeer laughed to himself before answering.

"Been fine, Jack. Everything's been looking up since you did me that little favor, got a mate and calf now." Rudolph explained and then his ears lifted as he heard a voice call to him.

"Uh, I can't stop!"

"I'm coming, Cody!" Rudolph called after the young reindeer as he flew past Jack, he stopped partway and then looked over his shoulder to his old friend, "Oh, I never got to thank you for that."

"Nah, its fine. I wasn't really allowed near the Pole anyway, Phil doesn't like me that much." Jack shrugged and then Rudolph snickered.

"Yeah, the yetis are hard shells to crack. But at least you can stick around now." Rudolph commented and then he turned back around, "Hey! Steer the other way, Cody. Watch out for the hill!"

Jack laughed to himself before he started back towards the Pole, as he landed on one of the windowsills he knocked on it with the crook of his staff. And who would answer but the very yeti he had just been talking about, "Oh, hey Phil…"

The yeti glared at him and then roughly grabbed the back of his hoodie, "Hagbragalara." He grumbled as he forcefully tossed Jack onto the extra bed, Jack yelped as he hit the bed but then he looked up to Phil.

"At least you had the decency to toss me onto my bed, however I wouldn't be surprised if you had thrown me on the floor either." Jack commented as the yeti walked out of the room, Jack blinked when he realized that he was being ignored. "Hey! Where's North?"

"Hablazlabala." The yeti growled as he turned to look at the young Guardian.

"Oh yeah, because that explains _so_ much…" Jack muttered as he leaned back on his bed dramatically.

The yeti frowned before raising a hand and pointing towards the globe room, "Ah, why didn't you just say so?"

Phil resisted the urge to not only slap the young spirit but to also toss him out the window he had just come out of, he growled and then punched his opposite hand into his left hand with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, don't push my luck." Jack said as he waved his free hand dismissively, the yeti snorted and then walked away, indelicately nudging an elf away with his foot as he left.

Jack lifted off of the bed with the help of the wind; he flipped over and then landed skillfully on his feet. The cool ice under his feet was much more welcoming than the concrete of Burgess or the rug floor that Jamie's house was filled with. But after he got over the comfort of the ice on his skin, he walked towards the globe room. The yetis shot him a few glares but kept working, with only two weeks until Christmas they had to really pick up production.

As soon as Jack neared the globe room he could hear voices over the crackle of the fire, Jack winced inwardly, _'Great…fire…'_ He thought to himself, he hadn't ever told the other Guardians but fires always bothered him. It wasn't like he couldn't be near them but it wasn't very comfortable either, he loathed heat of any kind and heat didn't seem to like him either. He sighed as he listened into the conversation, he kept assuring himself that it wasn't eavesdropping; he _had_ been invited to the Pole anyway.

"Oi, I know frostbite is near. The storm started just as I was coming into the Pole…My ears are still frozen solid!"

"It is nice look for you."

"No…I-It's not…"

Jack smirked to himself, it hadn't been his intention but Bunny's reaction was just too good to pass up. He strolled casually into the room with his staff placed promptly on his shoulder, "Sorry I'm late, got held up a mile from the workshop."

All of the Guardians looked to their youngest member, Tooth brightened instantly before rushing over to him and wrapping him in a hug, "Jack! You made it!"

"Of course I did, figured I might as well make myself useful." Jack laughed as he placed his free hand on her back, Bunny glared at him and he would have laid his ears back if he could still feel them.

"Frostbite…"

"Kangaroo." Jack replied with a smirk on his face as him and Tooth separated from the hug, he and Bunny shared a short glare and then Bunny frowned deeply before speaking.

"I assume that **this** was _your_ doing." Bunny growled as he pointed to his frozen-stiff ears, Jack could only bask in his unintended victory for a few fleeting moments before he even found his voice to respond.

"Perhaps, but North was right: It **is** a good look for you." He laughed to himself as Bunny bunched his fist before he started to raise it, but lucky for Jack the others noticed before he did.

"Bunny!" Tooth shouted.

"Bunny, is enough." North scolded the angry Pooka as Jack took a startled step back.

But once Jack caught his composure, he stood up straight again to taunt the strained rabbit. "There's no need to get grumpy. Just sit in front of the fire for a few minutes and you would be successful in killing off the joy of the children."

"Jack…"

"That's not funny…"

"No, it's not. But it's the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts…" Jack commented as he started to walk away from them, he paused and then glanced over his shoulder to North. "So, just give me a task and I'll try not to mess it up too badly."

Before any of them could respond, a voice sliced through the air followed by some crashing sounds. "Get back here, runt!"

"Blitzen! Don't hurt him!" Another voice yelled after the other one, suddenly a young buck skidded into the wall where the Guardians' could see him. The buck had a much smaller rack than any of the other older reindeer that Jack had seen, he was mostly light brown but his neck was covered with fluffy white fur that feathered out gracefully despite his tumble.

The buck shook his head and then looked up, he searched the faces in front of him and then his gaze settled on Jack. The buck's face brightened upon seeing him, he struggled to his feet but then he was met with the antlers of a much larger, stronger and obviously older reindeer. "Move a muscle, and I will gladly slice you to pieces." The older buck growled as he glared at the young buck.

"Blitzen, what is the meaning of this?" North boomed and then the reindeer looked to him.

"This runt thinks that he can just wander the workshop, and he even had the nerve to try on his old man's halter." The older buck, Blitzen, explained as he lifted his head to address North properly.

"I-I just wanted to see if the rumors were true…" The young buck spoke up and then he got a glare from Blitzen back.

"I will gladly skewer you."

"Blitzen!" The same voice from before called as the familiar red-nosed reindeer came into the room, standing tall and holding himself with a sense of purpose. Blitzen looked over his shoulder at him and then he growled to himself as Rudolph spoke, "You leave my pupil alone, don't you have older bucks to train?"

"Of course I do, but this little runt is-."

"None of your concern," Rudolph finished his college's sentence before gesturing with his antlers towards the stables, "Now get going before Comet takes them off your hands."

"Rotten little no good hoof kisser…" Blitzen muttered as he walked back towards the stables, his hooves clicking on the half-ice half-wood floors as he went.

Once he was gone, Rudolph looked towards the young buck before sighing, "He does kind of have a point, Ben…You shouldn't be in the workshop."

"But, Rudolph…" The young buck drug out the older reindeer's name as his ears laid back.

Jack interrupted their conversation out of curiosity, "Rudolph, who's your friend here?"

Both reindeer looked to the winter spirit, Ben got to his feet and then introduced himself, "My name's Benjamin, Ben for short. And I can't tell you how much of an honor it is to finally meet you."

Jack was taken aback by that, "Y-You, know me?"

"Oh, of course I do! You helped Master North defeat Pitch. You also caused the blizzard of '64 to help Rudolph get on the team." Ben said joyfully, both Rudolph and Jack winced as their secret was let out.

"You did what?" North asked in more shock than anger.

"It was for a good cause…" Jack assured him and then Ben lowered his head in shame.

"Sorry for causing so much trouble…I just wanted to ask you something, Jack…" Ben muttered softly but then he turned around and walked away, his head still down. "But I'll just leave you alone now…"

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa!" Jack said as he flew over the young buck and then landed in front of him, "I'll hear you out, kid."

Ben's face brightened instantly, "Oh, thank you so much!" He smiled and then Jack grabbed onto one of his antlers before using it to swing onto his back.

"We can talk about it outside, but for now." Jack started and then he held out his staff like a sword over his trusty-steed's head, "Onward, Benjamin!"

"Oh, yes sir!" Ben nodded as he reared up and then he galloped past his mentor and towards the stables, "Excuse me, got to go!" He called back as he trotted down the hallways, Jack cheering the whole way.

"Well, looks like he's got his job." Bunny muttered and then he tugged at one of his ears, "Now can somebody help me defrost my ears?"

"Of course, then you can help paint the toys." North said as he and the others started to pull the ears part from one another.

"Yeah, whatever, mate. Just help me…"

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_**An: Okay, I got the idea of Rudolph and Jack being friends from another writer but I forget the details...I didn't think up that idea though and the credit goes to them for it!**_

_**Anyway, please review and thanks for reading! :D**_


	3. Dark Ages AU: The Last Stand

_**AN: Alright, time to confuse to guys! XD**_

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Just one last fight...He had but just one left but his strength was waning like the moon above him. He couldn't lose, there was too much at stake and for the first time in ten years he felt resolve bubble inside him. This was it, if he gave up now it would all end.

"How does it feel to be with your hands tied behind your back?" A voice asked and the white-haired teen looked up just in time to see the sneer on the tall man's face as he stroked a dark-horse's mane. "You led them to their doom, but I must say. Thank you for bringing me some fun."

"Y-You're...a...m-monster…" The teen growled as he held his side painfully, blood trickling out from in between his fingers. The horse's nose flared as it's eyes lit up with savage delight, it stamped it's hooves as it snorted.

"I may be, Frost. But you are even more so, face it child: you are the face of winter, death, destruction sorrow and agony. And you think that just since the moon 'chose,' you that you are the dawn of some 'new age?'" The man laughed right in his face as the horse sniffed the blood and fear in the air, the teen frowned deeply as four figures looked up to him and he met their gazes.

And as we shared the exchange, I saw the hopeless fear in all of them. Even Lapin was drained of whatever hope he had previously been filled with, and then one thing Jack thought was what if, just if, he could make them laugh? It didn't have to be uproarious, just a snicker just one little snicker to break the tension.

Jack turned back to the man and then with his blood-covered hand he made a snowball under his stomach, hiding it from the man's view as he turned towards the others. "Well, looks like I win. So, will you sur-." He was cut short when a white and pink snowball hit his face, causing him to stumble backwards.

"How about we settle this over a little game?" The others looked over just as Jack stood up once more, he was standing tall and strong. This was his element, his cause and his friends. "Time to have a little fun."

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_**AN: Confused yet? XD Alright, please review and I hoped you liked this oneshot! :D**_


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